day : 07/08/2013 9 results

That’s Impossible Bird, the duo you’ll hear at this week’s free Summer Concerts at Hiawatha show – 6:30 pm Thursday on the lawn east of the community center, along Walnut Avenue SW south of SW Lander. This is the third of this year’s six concerts, presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association and sponsored by local businesses and organizations including WSB. Haven’t been? BYO chair(s) and/or blanket(s), come stake out a spot on the lawn, bring dinner if you feel like it – it’s a casual event, not a “sit down and sit still” type of atmosphere; usually people of all ages are dancing, chatting, visiting the sponsor tables along the edge of the lawn … come late and leave early, come early and leave late. The weather promises to be perfect once more. See the full season lineup here.

West Seattle road work: Orchard/Dumar closure later this month

August 7, 2013 9:16 pm

| 16 COMMENTS

| Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

The ongoing Delridge Way Repaving Project will lead to a five-day road closure later this month, according to the SDOT alert sent out tonight:

The Seattle Department of Transportation will close a segment of SW Orchard and Dumar Way SW, which runs between Delridge Way SW and SW Austin Street, from 7:00 a.m. Monday, August 19, until 6:00 p.m. Friday, August 23, to conduct roadway restoration work and make utility upgrades. Local access will be maintained.

Traffic intending to travel west on Dumar Way SW from 16th Avenue SW will be directed to use the following detour (please see attached map):

· South on 16th Avenue SW
· West on SW Henderson
· North on Delridge Way SW

Traffic intending to travel east on SW Orchard to Dumar Way SW from Delridge Way SW will be directed to use the following detour:

· South on Delridge Way SW
· East on SW Henderson Street
· North on 16th Avenue SW

Lane restrictions currently in effect on Delridge Way SW as part of SDOT’s Delridge Way SW Paving Project (between SW Holden and SW Orchard streets) will remain in place until early October. Northbound and southbound traffic will be maintained.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Street-robberies followup; one linked to citywide spree

August 7, 2013 7:04 pm

| 29 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Tonight’s West Seattle Crime Watch is a followup – we finally have details on the two street robberies mentioned in Monday’s report. Seattle Police public-affairs unit Det. Renée Witt says neither case has resulted in arrests so far, and they don’t know if they’re related – detectives are investigating but here are the basics of the two incidents we asked about:

Thursday night (8/1) – The victim (a South Seattle Community College [WSB sponsor] student, according to a safety bulletin from the college) was walking home when four or five people confronted him in the 5200 block of 16th SW, pushing him to the ground and taking his iPhone as well as $160 in cash. Det. Witt says the victim described the robbers as black males, one in a red shirt, one armed with a handgun, but could not provide any further description. The victim, she said, did not want medical attention.

Early Saturday (8/3) – This actually happened at 30th and Myrtle, Det. Witt explained – the 34th/Willow address on the report is apparently the home of a friend of the victim, to which he went to report the robbery. The report says the victim was walking when confronted by three people who demanded all his money; he refused, and one struck his face with a handgun, knocking him to the ground. The robbers – described only as black men about 18 to 22 years old, one wearing a green shirt – took the victim’s wallet and iPhone. After he got to a friend’s home, she called police, though, the report says, the victim “did not want to report the incident because he didn’t think anything would happen to the suspects.”

ADDED 10:54 PM: As noted in comments, SPD now says via this SPD Blotter update that it’s looking for a group of robbers who have struck around the city, and one of the aforementioned incidents is believed to be part of their rampage – the one on 16th SW last Thursday night. While the Saturday incident on 30th is NOT mentioned, SPD mentions an additional West Seattle incident – saying that on Saturday, “just after noon, one of the suspects ran up to a 13-year-old girl and stole an iPhone out of her hands near 60th Ave SW and Alki Ave SW.” That incident was not on our radar, as it’s not shown as a robbery on the crime-report map, it’s listed as “theft-other.”

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Election 2013: Second round of primary-election results

August 7, 2013 4:46 pm

| 12 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

King County Elections has released its second round of primary-election results – which look a lot like the first round, though in the races for mayor and Council Position 2, the distance between first and second place tightened a bit.

SEATTLE MAYOR – Results are here.
Murray 30%
McGinn 28%
Steinbrueck 16%
Harrell 15%

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL, POSITION 2 – Results are here
Conlin 49%
Sawant 34%
Carver 17%

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL, POSITION 8 – Results are here
O’Brien 58%
Shen 35%
Ishii 7%

KING COUNTY PARKS LEVY – Results are here
Yes 69%
No 31%

KING COUNTY EXECUTIVE – Results are here
Constantine 76%
Lobdell 12%
Goodspaceguy 7%

SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION, POS. 3 – Results are here
Bowman 66%
Wolfe 18%
Pilloud 15%

A plain-text file of all races is here. Next update is expected in the 4 pm hour tomorrow.

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West Seattle traffic alert: 8th/Roxbury light out

August 7, 2013 3:42 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

A two-car crash this past hour did serious damage to the signal equipment at 8th and Roxbury – as shown in our photo – and the light is not working as a result. That means it’ll be slow going in that intersection for a while; a police officer is on site to direct traffic. No one was hurt in the crash.

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West Seattle restaurant followup: Fatburger for ex-bistro space

August 7, 2013 12:10 pm

| 155 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

Two days after closing Bada Bistro at 61st/Alki, its now-former owners confirm that Fatburger plans to take over the space. Fatburger is a Los Angeles-based chain, founded more than 60 years ago, which made its first inroads into the Seattle metro area with outlets on the Eastside; so far as we can tell, this would be its first location inside the Seattle city limits. The Fatburger website’s “new locations” page mentions that Alki Beach is “opening August/September 2013.” Its closest current locations include Bellevue, Issaquah, Redmond, and Federal Way. Fatburger’s arrival will make the 2700 block of Alki Avenue something of a hub of food/beverage chains – with Starbucks across the alley, and Subway soon to open in half of the three-years-empty space at 2758 Alki (as first reported here in May; a sign has just gone up this week). We’re hoping to reach the local franchisees for more information, and to find out if the plan includes the parent company’s wings sideline, as suggested by a liquor-license filing from earlier this year.

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West Seattle Wednesday: Calendar highlights for today/tonight

August 7, 2013 10:40 am

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

Beautiful scenes of fog on the water this morning – thanks to Brian for sharing the image above and Susana for sending the image below:

Meantime, this is shaping up as another very busy news day, so here’s a very quick look at highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar (where as always you will find even more listings for the day/night – and weeks/months – ahead):

EARLY DAYS SUPPORT GROUP: Featured at last Saturday’s West Seattle Outdoor Movies (WSB coverage here) – it’s the weekly drop-in meeting of this support group for parents with babies up to a year old. Noon-2 pm at Nurturing Expressions (WSB sponsor) in The Junction. (4746 44th SW, Suite 201)

BENEFIT LEMONADE/COOKIE STAND: Amanda shares this message from the Community School of West Seattle (but note the school is NOT the site of the sale – the address is below):

Our wonderful friend Ian in the Blake classroom is having a lemonade and cookie stand. All the proceeds raised go to help Boyer Children’s Clinic where Ian has spent a LOT of time! PLEASE stop by and support his efforts, I am sure the lemonade will be delicious

3-5 pm today, 9250 14th SW.

LAFAYETTE KINDERGARTENERS’ PLAY DATE: Going into kindergarten at Lafayette Elementary this year? Join today’s play date at the Lafayette playground, 4:30-6:30 pm.

COOKBOOK LAUNCH PARTY: As featured on WSB last week, Chef Erin Coopey‘s new “Kitchen Pantry Cookbook” launches with a party at PCC Natural Markets-West Seattle (WSB sponsor) tonight, 5-7 pm. (California/Stevens)

SEATTLE BICYCLE ADVISORY BOARD: Of particular interest given that there was another collision today in the East Marginal area. 6-8 pm in the lower-level meeting room (L-280) at City Hall downtown. Tonight’s SBAB agenda includes updates on capital projects and the Bicycle Master Plan Update, and can be seen here.

CLOTHESPIN ON A WIRE: Pop-up shop tonight at Bird on a Wire Espresso, 6-9 pm. Details in the listing. (35th/Henderson)

ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY MEETING: Get the latest on the new Arbor Heights Elementary during a community meeting at 7 pm tonight at the current AHES. (37th and 104th)

KELLY CONDRON CONCERT: Grace Church is hosting Kelly Condron in concert tonight (Wed. Aug.7) at 7pm. The church says, “Kelly has been the opening act for many top notch Christian music groups. This is her only tour stop in Washington. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.” (10323 28th Ave. SW)

‘ONCE UPON A MATTRESS’: Opening night for the ArtsWest conservatory production, 7:30 pm, details in our calendar listing. (4711 California SW)

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West Seattle sports: Last call for Sealth basketball camp

August 7, 2013 9:42 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS & Sports

(Photo courtesy Coach Colin Slingsby, seen with campers this past June)
The camp at Chief Sealth International High School is actually more than a basketball camp – it teaches “life skills” too – and head coach Colin Slingsby sends word that room remains in two sessions later this month:

Sealth Basketball and Life Skills Camp kicks off Session 3 next week after two highly attended and successful sessions back in June, where we hosted more than 250 campers. There are still spaces available for next week’s session (8/12-8/16) grades 2-9, and the new Advanced Concepts session (8/19-8/23), which is for campers in grades 6-9. Contact Coach Slingsby at caslingsby@seattleschools.org or 206-854-8142 for last minute registration instructions.

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday updates, including bridge crash, E. Marginal bicycle collision

August 7, 2013 6:11 am

| 43 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(Live view from the west-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
6:11 AM: The morning commute is off to a quiet start. No road work or closure advisories for today, except for an alert that the Mariners play a day game, which means that the southbound 99 ramp to Atlantic will be closed for about an hour in the late afternoon to try to help traffic keep flowing.

Looking way ahead – the weekend of August 16-19, there will be two closures of note for our area, including an all-weekend closure of the northbound I-5 ramp to the West Seattle Bridge – scroll to the SODO section of the weekly Construction Lookahead.

7:46 AM UPDATE: There’s a crash on the eastbound bridge – thanks to Jay for the tip in comments. Also, there is a crash at East Marginal and Spokane – east of the low bridge – described on the scanner as “bicycle vs. bicycle.” Fire has been called out for possible injury/ies on that one but not for the bridge crash, which has closed the middle lane, per SDOT via Twitter.

7:55 AM UPDATE: Per scanner, the two bicycles collided head-on. One rider is “up and walking around” with minor injuries, while the other one, a 30-year-old man, will be taken to the hospital.

8:01 AM UPDATE: Also per scanner, southbound East Marginal is closed at Spokane because of the aforementioned collision.

8:17 AM UPDATE: That scene is open to traffic, and we have just heard that the high-bridge car-crash scene is clearing too. No injuries reported in that one.

8:54 AM UPDATE: If you’re using Highland Park Way as an alternative – you might run into trouble there too; SFD has responded to an aid call for an incident at HP Way and W. Marginal Way SW describing as a bicyclist falling. No medic unit dispatched, though, so the injuries sound non-major, so far.

5:53 PM: Bridge update: